Forbidden Child
by Vixenkiba
Summary: Where the Scourge has left a path of Death and Decay, one child was saved from death. Not belonging to the Horde, nor being accepted by the Alliance, who is she, to who does she belong and what is her role in the destructive war against the Lich King? -HIATUS-
1. Prologue

**Prologue - Forbidden Child...**

by *vixenkiba

**A World of Warcraft Story~**

_**Chapter 00 - Prologue**_

_Cold..._

It was cold in the area of Dragonblight, but instead of the usual cold of the snow, the empty chill from Death and Decay could be felt.

_Scourge._

They had left a trail of death. There, where you could once smell the scent of sweet flowers, now crept the smell of blood and rotting flesh into your nostrils. Nothing was saved, not the flowers, nor the plants or any living creature. Not even the snow. It was clear from the muddy path which way they had gone.

"This looks truly horrific", a female Orc spoke. "So it has begun."

"Sadly, yes. It seems like he has started gathering his army of Death" replied a fierce Troll.

The Horde continued to stare at the enormous ravage the Scourge had left. The army that had passed was massive. The Lich King was growing in strength and they had to fight against his powers.

A small Blood Elf woman stood in the front line. Even though she looked tiny and tender, she actually was a proud and courageous warrior, standing firm on her feet. But right now she, too, looked in front of her with visible horror spelled on her face. Then she turned her head to watch the Tauren next to her, who looked more miserable than anyone else.

"Mani?"

The Tauren flinched, then looked at her with big eyes. "Vixen, how… I didn't know… that he had gathered this many… Do you think there is any chance-"

"I don't know, Mani…", Vixen quickly interrupted. She couldn't look him in the eyes, knowing the answer was on her face. Of course nobody on their course would have survived. But she could see from the look on his face that, somehow, he had hope. "Why don't we go to her place?", Vixen suggested.

Without an answer Manitti transformed into a bird and slowly flew away. Vixen quickly discussed his sudden disappearance with the others in the front line and then followed the tauren-druid on her mighty steed. They would be able to get away if there were still some Scourge left.

He was afraid of what he would discover there.  
><em>Her<em> place was ruined as well. The corpses of drown and killed animals floated in the big lake. The trees were black from the ash. Manitti landed here and called her name. But there was no response. The Frost Nymph was gone, or she was dead like all the others. "Impossible", Manitti whispered. But if she was gone, had she taken the child with her? Was she safe, or was she dead? "She swore an oath with me…"

"And she did keep that oath."  
>Manitti hadn't heard Vixen arrive behind him.<br>"Look there, in the middle of the lake."

There, in the middle of the lake, drifted an ice block, glittering from the blood. Inside lay the frozen body of a child.


	2. Chapter 01

**Chapter 01 - Forbidden Child...**

by *vixenkiba

**...and unwelcome.**** A World of Warcraft Story~**

_**Chapter 01 - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea**_

_~Clap, clap clap~_

The sound of her hooves was high and soft, it was a small person passing by. For the Tauren it was very easily recognizable and many knew without looking that it was her. They were used to it by now.

"Hey, Little Hooves!"  
>"Fawn, where are you going now huh? On your way to spy for the enemy?"<br>"Betrayer!"

And she was used to this by now as well. Many of the Tauren children she had to train with acted like that towards her. By now, she knew that if she would go against their rash comments she would only receive more of it at a later time. Some of the parents nervously commanded their children to stop, and they gave them a soft scolding. It was as if she must not know the children were being corrected for their behavior, like the parents thought the same as their children.

She did understand their detachment a little, for she was standing out pretty much; For starters, she wasn't of their race. She had the face of an elf, slightly ribbed horns, a slender body with the hairy legs like a Taurens, but with smaller hooves. Overall, she looked like a Draenei. And Draenei were all but welcome here.

In a land where war reigns between two sides, races must choose the side they want to fight for. The Tauren fought for the Horde, together with Orcs, Trolls, Undead Forsaken and the Blood Elves, where the Draenei on the other hand were with the Alliance, which also consisted of Humans, Night Elves, Gnomes and Dwarves. This is what she was taught together with all the other children here in Mulgore, the land of the Tauren.

"Little Fawn, oi!"  
>She pulled the sash which held her sword higher on her shoulder, ignoring the screaming from behind.<br>"Hey! Are you deaf?"  
>She didn't want this. Couldn't they leave her just alone for a minute?<br>"Hey, Ma-"  
>In a flash, she pulled her sword out of its scabbard and turned around. "For Elune's sake, can't people just leave me ALONE for a…!"<p>

A startled Tauren boy stood in front of her, older than she was. He laid his big, sturdy hand on her sword and slowly pushed it down. "Come now, don't tell me you didn't recognize my voice? You know we've got training in just a moment, right? But you still weren't there, so I went to search for you."  
>They were in Thunder Bluff, the capital city of the Tauren. It was located high on a Mesa in Mulgore, so that it was protected from attacks from the ground.<br>The young Tauren's name was Cevil and he was one of the few in the city who actually acted nice to her, just like some of the elder Tauren who knew about the situation, the leader Cairne Bloodhoof, and of course Manitti. Cevil came from the Sunwalkers, an order of Tauren Paladins, and was trained in the ways of the Light. Together with him, she was in training to become a Protector.

"Ah, I'm sorry Cevil. I think I kind of… forgot we have training now", she muttered while looking away from Cevil. He frowned. "I guess the only reason you 'forgot' is because you don't want to face those ugly and dumb kids again. Oh come on, they're too young to even understand! You must stand above this!"

Cevil took her hand and started walking. But, she thought, it wasn't easy to hear all those comments, even if they came from the mouth of some ignorant kids. What was bothering her was that if those kids were ignorant, this must mean they were talking after their parents.

"You're still letting them train together?"  
>Corna was upset. Her son, a heroic paladin of the horde, was still cooperating with that Draenei girl. She was also mad at Manitti, because that stupid cow thought he could keep her in Mulgore forever and let her just grow up like that. What reasoning was there? Only because he was such a good healer and such good friends with the leader and Moonglade, did he think he could do everything he wanted?<p>

* * *

><p>"Hrunn, sooner or later there will be problems with that alliance kid. It's better for our son if he stopped meeting and training with her as soon as possible."<br>Hrunn sighed as he watched out of the window and muttered to himself "Where has all the kindness gone in this world… Once we were willing to take up orphans, regardless of the race. All the trust is gone since the war, in times in which we should rely on each other."  
>His son trained there outside happily with his Draenei friend. They were of equal strength and that made both of them stronger and provoked them both to become better. His wife, of course, wasn't speaking all nonsense. Some Alliance kids were caught some days ago and brought to the Orgrimmar prison, for spying on Horde territory. They weren't killed, but he was sure the Alliance would be planning to raid Orgrimmar very soon to get them back. They would probably not come here, in Thunder Bluff, because they didn't know there also was an Alliance child here. At least, he hoped they didn't.<p>

"All men are hopeless!"  
>Hrunn, lost in thought, was brought back to Azeroth by the voice of his wife.<br>"Yes, you heard me! All you can do is think, but you never act! And you thinking so much and not being able to do two things at the same time doesn't help very much with that! Now, get ready, we should travel to Orgrimmar!"  
>Hrunn smiled and followed Corna "Yes, my sun." He would settle this subject later.<p>

* * *

><p>Manitti was in charge for the Healer group in the Valley of Strength in Orgrimmar. They expected a large group of Alliance to be coming to the city soon to get back some children, from which the guards had thought that they were spying on them. It probably wouldn't come to a fight, but they would have to teach these dumbasses a lesson so they would watch their children better the next time.<br>Resula, a female Goblin priest, was standing next to Manitti, and they were chitchatting about useless things to fill the time. Suddenly, the subject of the orphan child came into the conversation, because Resula seemed to have heard some news. "I heard from the guards that they had tried to catch an exceptional child, although I do not believe them."  
>"What is it, has it anything to do with her?" Manitti asked, suddenly frightened.<br>"Yes, and no. No because it wasn't her. They say that it was a Night Elf child. Can you believe it? A _Night Elf child_! We haven't seen a single one of them in our whole lives!"

It was common knowledge in the world of Azeroth that the Night Elves could become very old, much older than any of them could become, but that they were not immortal anymore because of their own mistake. That's why it was said they had started to bring their children in the world once again, so their race wouldn't disappear. But no one of their age had seen such a child before. They probably kept them in secret until they looked mature.

Manitti also looked at Resula in disbelief. "That's what I tell ya!" Resula continued. "And the elf child was seen in the prison, with some other children. Can you imagine, a child slipping through the guards? Anyways, after he or she got away the guards asked the children with the most basic words they knew from their language, what the child wanted from them. And they said he was looking for a Draenei child somewhere in the Horde cities!"

Manitti was scared. What if they had found out the Draenei that kid was looking for was actually located in Thunder Bluff? Some of the people of Moonglade knew about it, but also had promised to keep silent. There were only druids in Moonglade, so did this mean... that the child was a druid child? If that was so, he could have seen the girl, seven years ago when she was brought to Moonglade by Manitti.

"May I ask you, Manitti. Why have you never discussed the matter of the child with the Alliance itself? You can come in contact with them easily, via the Night Elves of Moonglade."  
>Manitti looked deeply in Resula's eyes and spoke "I swore to <em>her<em> I would take care of the child if her good friend Luziella couldn't take care of her. It was the last thing she asked of me before she died. If the Alliance knew of her, they would have taken her away immediately. She can make that choice for herself, when she is grown up."  
>Resula frowned. "You know there sticks a huge danger to doing so?"<br>"Yes.", answered Manitti, with confidence in his voice.  
>"Resula, could you do me a favor? Could you please take over the lead so I can go to Thunder Bluff, now that there probably is a Night Elf spy on the loose? I've got to warn some people."<br>"I don't think so my friend. For there comes a huge bunch of enemies."

Resula pointed his finger to a large flock of what seemed like birds in the distance. "Alliance."

And they didn't look like they wanted to have a nice chitchat.

* * *

><p>The Tauren in Thunder Bluff stood rooted in astonishment and fear. Right in front of them stood a group of around forty heavily geared Alliance.<p>

"We've heard of something occurring in this city and we're not very pleased about it."  
>The Paladin who had spoken stepped forward. It didn't look like you could mess with him, for he had a face like thunder and had his sword ready in hand.<p>

"It seems like you're keeping a Draenei child here?"

Muttering could be heard from the crowd of Tauren, not knowing what to say or to do, until a child shot his mouth off. "She's a betrayer!" The parent tried to hush the child, to no avail. It was already said. The other children backed it up, they were too young to understand the situation.  
>"She looks like an Allie!"<br>"She's not from here!"  
>"She's spying for the Alliance and tells them all our secrets!"<br>All the childs now yelled through each other even though their parents panicky tried to stop them.

"ENOUGH!" yelled the Paladin. "Bring me the child!"  
>"What in Elune's name is going on here?"<br>The leader of the Tauren, Cairne Bloodhoof, came walking towards the alliance through the crowd. He glared angrily at the Paladin and the rest of the enemy. "I hope you did not come to fight, for we won't show any mercy to you, standing on OUR ground."

"And I sure hope for you, Cairne Bloodhoof, that we can settle this nice and easily, for I don't see many fighters around here. Where could they be now, in _Orgrimmar_, perhaps?"

The Tauren stood in the minority, if this had to come to a fight they would surely lose. Almost all skilled fighters were sent to Orgrimmar where they thought the Alliance would move to.  
>"You see, Cairne, we got a tip some days ago. There might be a Draenei girl on the loose here, in this city." The Paladin pointed at the children. "Those children have just confirmed it for us."<p>

Cairne was sweating and struggling. One girl stood facing his Tauren race. If he wouldn't hand over the girl, it would result in a fight and they would lose. This girl, even though she grew up with the Tauren, really was a Draenei and belonged to the Alliance, and even his folk thought of it that way. One girl was not a reason to put the whole city in danger. Cairne only didn't believe that this would be over soon, even when they handed her over.

"Bring the girl."

A few minutes later the struggling Draenei was brought in the middle of the crowd by a few Tauren guards. "What's happening? What are you doing? LET. ME. GO!"

When she saw the Alliance, she stopped struggling immediately, for she almost never came in touch with them. They were so different from what she was used to. The Paladin human scared the hell out of her and when he stepped closer she screamed and struggled backwards. She looked at the people in front of her, who she had been calling enemy for all those years. Did they think she would just move to the other side? How could they think she would leave Manitti and the others like that?  
>In the crowd of the Alliance stood mature Draenei, who looked at the girl with curiosity and interest. One female made a step toward her and reached her hand. "Come little girl. You don't have to be afraid. You can live with your own folk now."<br>Her voice was foreign, not at all like the Taura'he speech of the Tauren. They didn't have the right to decide where she had to live, or to call them 'her own' folk! Her mind filled with rage.

"If you come with us, girl, we won't harm any of the people here", spoke the Paladin. "Do as we say, and come with us, to where you really belong. You are a Draenei and you need to grow up with the _Alliance_, or you will have many problems in the future."

"You have no right to decide for me…" she muttered as she stood up, leaning on her sword. It was true that she didn't feel at home here. Almost everyone bullied her, or talked bad of her. But still…

"Why is it…" she spoke, her eyes fixed on the ground, "that everybody thinks…" She stood up right now and faced the Paladin. "_they can interfere with MY life_!"  
>Her eyes were filled with rage and one could read the pain from her expression.<br>The Paladin stretched out his hand to grab her arm, but this was a mistake.

Heaving her sword with both hands while jumping backwards she yelled at everybody who could hear it.

"**LEAVE ME ALOOOOONE!**"

Her sword crushed the stone and dirt, sending a shockwave all around her which sent the dust flying. Everybody backed off and this was her only chance. She ran towards the edge of the city and jumped into the deep, calling her mount while falling. When the dust had settled down, she was gone.


	3. Chapter 02

**Chapter 02 – Forbidden Child…**

By Vixenkiba

…**and caught between two flames. A World of Warcraft Story~**

**Chapter 02 – Unwelcome strangers**

His tail swept slowly but excited from the right to the left. Two hairy ears turned around towards incoming sounds, keen for even the smallest squeak. He made no noise; he held his breath; he was hidden in the shadows. The darkness was his territory.

Being the child of two druids had its advantages. His mother was a swift and talented cat and his father a mighty bear. He was in training to master both forms, yet felt more at home prowling through forests and cities like a stray cat, stealing and sneaking up from behind. For he was still a child, his body hadn't yet learned to take on the form of the animal body completely, but he was second to no cat on the world and a master in his techniques.

The guards were all really gone now; he had caused a ruckus when a guard had seen him when he asked the children in the prison for evidence. He had taken this opportunity to take on two quests at the same time; saving the children from Orgrimmar but also important, searching for the Draenei child, who, he knew almost sure, was held in Thunder Bluff. He had asked the children if they had maybe seen her in this city. Then the guards had seen him and he had led them outside, only to disappear into the shadows once again so he could free the children from the now unprotected prison. Outside, the Alliance had arrived, which gave him a bigger chance to finish this task with success. He would only have to sneak in again, to open the doors with the keys he had stolen from those idiot guards and led the children out safely while the Alliance kept the Horde busy. Easy as that. But in dismay he noticed the prisons were empty now.

This could only mean the guards had thrown the children in the Ragefire Chasm.

* * *

><p><em>The child must be somewhere, Mai... Do what you must, and stop her my daughter.<em>

"I will do my best, father," Mai whispered back. On the top of her Gryphon she had a clear overview of the whole area of Mulgore. She drove her mount in circles around Thunder Bluff, where her people had invaded the Tauren for the last lost child. Her father whispered her what happened in the city, since Mai wasn't allowed to go anywhere near the city, for it was far too dangerous.

_Please be careful, the child was raised by the Tauren. She proved herself to be quite strong indeed, and even though you're a talented Sorceress as my own daughter, you do need to watch out._

"Don't worry, father! I trained my defenses well; my ice moves are pretty stable lately."

Just as she said that she saw a small figure drop down from the high Mesa Thunder Bluff was built on. It looked like the person was falling and would die from the impact when she would touch the ground, but as she watched and rushed forward, the small person seemed to summon a mount. Somehow she managed her mount to break the fall with his long feet, scratching in the stony and muddy walls with its long and sharp nails. The mount landed hard on the ground, but didn't seem to even feel it. Instantly, he rushed forward.

"I found the girl, father, she is on the back of a big and fast mount. She seems to be heading south, towards the gate of the Barrens. I'm following her and I'll try to stop her!"

_Wait. Mai! _But Mai was focusing on her new target and not trained in focusing on two important things at the same time. She didn't hear her father as she flew down on her Gryphon. She didn't know that auxiliary forces had arrived for the Tauren and that there was no one reaching for her now. She stood alone in this.

The Draenei girl had already noticed her presence and that only drove her mount to run faster. The Gryphon flapped its mighty wings to keep up with it and hovered next to her.

"Hey there, Draenei!" Mai waved from her mount. She didn't know if the girl could understand the common language. "Do you speak the common language?"

If looks could kill, Mai would be dead now, for the Draenei glared immensely mad at her. "I speak it enough to make myself clear: GET. LOST!" Her mount dashed forward.

"Wait, I didn't mean it like that!" Mai shouted at her, reaching out for her with her hand. Suddenly, flames whirled around her fingers and released a fireball which left an impact on the place where the girls mount had just ran. "Oops…"

She didn't know how the Draenei's mount could go on like this, but her Gryphon could hardly keep up with her. She had to drive the beast to its fullest to fill the gap between her and the girl, but her mount was unstoppable. They reached the Barrens, a barren wasteland. Now Mai also noticed where the girl was heading and she almost couldn't believe it. Why was an Alliance girl who they tried to save heading toward the capital city of the enemy? What should she do?

* * *

><p>The children were driven in a corner by a horde of bloodthirsty Troggs. They screamed and yelled at them, swaying their blunt but deadly weapons at them. A girl stood in front of them and tried to back the creatures off together with her wolf. She was glad she had been able to summon him, for those guards had taken away all their precious weapons and gear.<p>

"Damnit bro, why didn't you tame a friggin' beast yet? We could've really used that extra help now, ey!"

The smaller boy beside her remained silent. While his aim with guns was near perfect, he hadn't succeeded in taming or summoning a beast ever. Now, without his own gun, he was pretty much useless.

The bigger girl sighed. "Everyone! Listen to me! Use whatever spell ya know, it's fine if it at least backs these creeps off! We can do this!" She was the oldest in the whole group and a born leader. The children were a problem though.

"Ilicia, I.. I don't know any spells.. I haven't learned any one at school yet."

"I don't know what to do.."

"I'm scared!"

Some of the children did succeed in startling the troggs, and that's when Ilicia and her wolf could strike. It took a while, and she was getting tired, but slowly they were gaining advantage. She wasn't concerned about those troggs at all. She _was _afraid this would get the attention of a bigger mob though, for this was the deep prison of the enemies city. Sure those weak troggs wouldn't be all. And as she feared, a bigger mob came rushing into the scene. She focused on the target and charged at the beast together with her wolf, only a blunt weapon in hand. The children followed her example and released small fires and lights from their hands. A rain of what seemed like fireflies and lightbolls showered down on the leader, but he didn't seem to feel it at all. Now this scared Ilicia. She was a hunter, not some warrior or rogue who could more easily take on such a target, nor was her pet a defender. She begged the good Gods for help.

Faster than the eye could see, two claws sliced open the back of the leader Trogg. A child disappeared into the shadows, only to appear again in front of the creature, this time clawing open his face. The bleeding trogg screamed and yelled for help, but his weak servants backed off from this horrible sight.

"I take it I came just in time, miss..." a soft voice purred.

"You…" was the only thing Ilicia could answer.

With a few stabs, the boy put the Troggs unconscious. "Just like that." He licked the blood from his claws.

"Ya're that boy from some time ago." Ilicia sank on her knees, suddenly feeling the exhaustion all over her body.

"Don't let your guard down yet, miss. More will be incoming soon, I can sense that. I managed to steal some of your gear though, since it'll probably come in handy."

The girl was handed over a bow with eagles on the side, handcrafted by the best bowman in the city. The brother's eyes also began to shine as he saw his own gun with the gear. With 100 bullets on him, he would last for some time.

"What is this place?" Ilicia asked.

The boy, still focused on the tunnel which led deeper into the cave, answered he didn't exactly know. He looked over the ridge of the path they were standing on now. Lava bubbled far down below them, it seemed like the entire floor was filled with a lake of lava. Here and there were eruptions, sprouting hot lava bolls in the air, which cooled when they fell on the floor. All the activity made the caves being filled in an orange gleam.

"They say below Orgrimmar lies the Ragefire Chasm, so this must be it. Sometimes they throw people in it they don't trust, like you. I bet they threw you in because your people just arrived in the city and are now fighting the Horde."

"They really came! We're saved now!" The children jubilated and danced in circles around each other. Ilicia let them be. She saw the worried look on the newcomer's face. "Ya didn't tell us everything you know."

The boy remained silent, but looked as if thinking if he should tell her or not. Her brother stood by her side and watched the tunnels close. "It strikes me as rather suspect…" he whispered softly, in himself. All the commotion should've made more monsters go out to get them, but then where were they?

The boy with the cat ears finally spoke. "They say even the people of Orgrimmar are a bit afraid of the things going on in this cave. It's pretty huge and I've heard the Burning Blade is residing here, planning to take over the city and the whole of Durotar. We need to get away of here quickly, if these people are our enemy now."

They heard noise in the distance.

"They're coming" Ilicia's brother said.

Ilicia turned around frightened and shouted to the children. "Prepare yourselves!" It was the only thing they could do, if they couldn't get away from here.

* * *

><p>Manitti prepared a huge mass-heal. The other healers around him took his example too and started to heal more people at the same time. The Alliance were with many, but they fought in the Horde's capital city. They had known the Alliance would attack and had prepared for this.<p>

"I don't get it, Resula!" Manitti shouted through the noise of yelling people. "Why don't we just hand over what they want, then we wouldn't need to fight like this!"

"First, the leaders think that'll make us look weak!" Resula replied while dodging incoming attacks. "Second, the Alliance could also ask us so nicely with lots of pretty-pleases because **they **were doing wrong after all, but they don't!"

"But… All this fighting puts _them_ in danger."

"You softie! I know you're only thinking about your Draenei girl. Stop it! It was you who raised her and taught her, right? She was raised by Tauren! That at least makes her strong!"

Manitti heard a scream which came to him as very familiar. But it was so far away. He searched the sky. In a flash he saw two guards holding two smaller creatures. "It can't be…"

An Alliance warrior charged him, his weapon in both hands, ready to knock him out. Manitti saw it too late.

But the warrior was blocked. "That is no behaviour for the healer leader here, Mani!"

"Vixen!" Manitti gasped, continuing his healing.

"Now go!" Vixen yelled, striking back at the warrior. "I know what you were looking at. Save her if you must, but remember the consequences."

While Manitti flew in the direction the guards had gone to, Resula asked "What consequences?"

Vixen sighed. "The child should better go with those other Alliance kids. This brings us trouble."

Manitti flew as hard as he could. The Ragefire Chasm was prohibited area for those not of Orgrimmar. "Please let her be safe…" The sight of when they had found the child frozen in ice came up in his mind. "Makaa…"

She would have to leave the Horde.

_Makaa…_


End file.
